Waste treatment apparatus

ABSTRACT

A junker for removing relatively infrangible solids from a pulper of a solid waste treatment system. As the relatively frangible portions of the solids are treated in the pulper, the relatively infrangible portions pass from the pulper into the bottom of the junker through an interconnecting chute and are conveyed upwardly from the bottom of the junker by means of a series of chain mounted buckets. The top and bottom walls of the interconnecting chute diverge away from each other towards the junker so that relatively long objects, such as long pieces of pipe, do not jam in the chute as they are engaged by the upwardly moving buckets, and a washer-conveyor receiving solids from the buckets is suspended by cables so that it can swing away from the junker if abnormally large objects are carried through the junker. The chain carrying the buckets is trained about a sprocket rotatably mounted at the upper end of the junder and serving as the sole support for the chain. As a result, the chain hangs freely downwardly into the junker, so that if the buckets become jammed the chain may slip on the sprocket to decrease the possibility of damage to the unit.

United States Patent 11 1 Herbert et al. Jan. 8, 1974 WASTE TREATMENT APPARATUS [75] Inventors: William Herbert, Middletown; Dean ABSTRACT H. Kohlhepp, Dayton, both of Ohio Filed: Jan. 18, 1972 Appl. No.2 218,742

A junker for removing relatively infrangible solids from a pulper of a solid waste treatment system. As the relatively frangible portions of the solids are treated in the pulper, the relatively infrangible portions pass from the pulper into the bottom of the junker through an interconnecting chute and are conveyed upwardly from the bottom of the junker by means of a series of chainmounted buckets. The top Cl 1 198/206 and bottom walls of the interconnecting chute diverge Int. Cl. away from each other towards the junker so that relaof Search l6, tively long objects such as long'pieces of pipe do not 198/55, 44, 51, 206, 207 jam in the chute as they are engaged by the upwardly moving buckets, and a washer-conveyor receiving soll References Cited ids from the buckets is suspended by cables so that it UNITED STATES PATENTS can swing away from the junker if abnormally large 2,013,215 9/1935 Langenberg 198/140 x Objects are carried through the junker The chain 619,128 2/1899 Bradford 198/72 x y g the buckets is trained about a Sprocket rotatably 640,762 1/1900 Gray 190/73 X mounted at the upper end of the junder and serving as 1,038,608 9/1912 Lawyer 198/152 the sole support for the chain. As a result, the chain 3,333,378 8/1967 Cuplan 8 r 198/14O hangs freely downwardly into the junker, so that if the 1,298,115 3/1919 Steere 198/152 X buckets become jammed the chain may Slip on the sprocket to decrease the possibility of damage to the Primary Examiner-Evon C. Blunk unit Assistant ExaminerDouglas D. Watts AttorneyMarechal et a1. 1 Claim, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTED 81974 SHEET 2 [IF 3 PATENTED 81974 SHEET 3 BF 3 FIG-7 FIG-8 WASTE TREATMENT APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION U.S. Pat. No. 3,549,092 describes a solid waste treatment system in which a heterogeneous mixture of relatively frangible and infrangible solid wastes are deposited in a pulper with an aqueous medium for reduction of the relatively frangible solids to a predetermined particulate size. After reduction of the relatively frangible solids they are withdrawn from the pulper along with a portion of the aqueous medium in slurry form for further treatment.

In order to maintain a continuous operation it is necessary that relatively infrangible solids deposited in the pulper be prevented from accumulating therein and interferring with the treatment of the other solids. The above noted U.S. patent discloses apparatus, called a junker, associated with the pulper for removing on a continuous basis relatively infrangible solids deposited in the pulper.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an improved junker particularly adapted for use in the treatment of solid waste materials, although not limited to this use. The junker, for example, might be also used in the treatment of waste papers.

The junker includes an upstanding cylindrical tank of substantially circular cross section communicating with a pulper tub by means of an interconnecting chute.

A sprocket is rotatably mounted adjacent the upper end of the tank and a chain is trained about the sprocket and extends freely downwardly into the tank to define a pair of opposed, unrestrained chain reaches.

A series of buckets are mounted on the chain and open upwardly as they move toward the top of the tank along one of the chain reaches. The buckets have bottom walls which slope downwardly and outwardly as they move downwardly along the other of the chain reaches.

In this way, as the buckets travel around the sprocket from the upwardly moving reach to the downwardly moving reach, thereby dumping their contents, the sloping bottom wall of each bucket serves as a deflector to deflect the contents of the bucket immediately thereabove into receiving means, such as a rotating drum type washer, mounted adjacent the upper end of the tank.

The washer or similar draining conveyor is suspended at the upper end of the tank by cables and is free to yield if large displacing forces are imposed thereon by, for example, abnormally large objects being carried through the junker. This reduces the possibility ofjamming either the junker, washer-conveyor, or both.

An aqueous medium, such as water, is flowed through the junker into the pulper with which it is associated and the side walls of the buckets are provided with drainage openings to permit at least a portion of this medium to drain from the buckets as they move along the upwardly moving chain reach. In order to supply liquid to the receiving member for washing the materials deposited therein, the drainage holes in some ofthe buckets side walls are made smaller than in others so that at least a portion of the liquid may be carried upwardly by these buckets.

Additionally, light floating materials, such as plastics, which find their way into the junker from the pulper may be trapped in the downwardly moving buckets, particularly those having the smaller drainage openings, so that these materials may be washed back into the pulper by the flow of liquid from the junker to the pulper for further treatment therein.

The top and bottom walls of the interconnecting chute diverge away from each other toward the upstanding tank. As a result, relatively long objects, such as long pipe sections, can clear the chute as they slide down the chute from the pulper and are engaged by the upwardly moving buckets, thereby preventing jamming of such objects in the system.

Preferably a pair of elongated wear strips of, for example, nylon, are mounted on opposite, vertically extending edges of the side walls of the chute for engage ment by the upwardly extending buckets.

The circular configuration of't-he tank provides more volume than would a rectangularly cross-sectioned tank to lessen the tendency of materials to build up back into the pulper. The circular configuration of the tank also provides room for the buckets to work against the material in the tank without jamming and permits more ready access to the interior of the tank for maintenance and cleaning.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevational view showing portions of a waste treatment system incorporating the junker of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the junker ofthe present invention;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but taken from a different direction; I

FIG. 5 is a view of part of the junker with portions broken away for clarity;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to view 5, but showing the upper end of the junker;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a portion of the waste treatment system; and

FIG. 8 is an enlarged elevational view of a portion of the system. I

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A junker in accordance with the present invention is particularly adapted for use in a solid waste treatment system of the general type described in the above noted patent. It will be apparent, however, that it may also be used in other solid waste systems or in other fields, such as the treatment of waste paper. Thus, as seen in FIG. 1 of the drawings, such a solid waste treatment system may include a pulper 10 into which the solid waste materials are deposited, together with an aqueous medium for reduction of the solids to some preselected particulate size by means of a rotor mounted in the tub and generating hydraulic and mechanical shear forces.

The pulper l0 interconnects with the junker 12 by means of an interconnecting chute l4 and material deposited in the junker through the chute is conveyed by means to be presently disclosed to a washer or similar draining conveyor 15 suspended from overhead sup porting structure 16 by means of four cables 17, only two of which are visible in FIG. 1 of the drawings. After treatment in the washer 15 the material may pass through a magnetic separator l8and other treatment apparatus, such as a liquid cyclone and a dewatering device 22. The latter are described in more detail in the above noted patent and, per se, form no part of the present invention.

The junker 12 includes an upstanding tank 24 of substantially circular cross sectional configuration. A pair of bearings 26 are mounted on the upper end of the tank 24 and rotatably support a shaft 28, on which is mounted a sprocket 30 at a point on the shaft centrally of the tank 24.

An additional sprocket 32 is mounted on an outer end of the shaft 28 and is wrapped by a drive chain 34, which also wraps a drive sprocket 36 mounted on the end of a shaft 38 of a gear box 40. Gear box 40 and the drive 42 therefor are both mounted on a platform 44 attached to the tank 24 and braced by suitable support planes 46.

A pair of splash guards 48 and 50 are mounted on the upper end of the tank 24 inwardly of the bearings 26, with the splash guard 50 also serving as a support for a bank of spray nozzles 52. Additional banks of spray nozzles 54 and 56 are also provided at the upper end of the tank 24 adjacent the pulper 10.

A chain 58 wraps the sprocket 30 and depends downwardly therefrom to a point adjacent the bottom of the tank 24. The sprocket 30 serves as the only support for the chain 58, thereby defining a pair of unrestrained chain reaches 60 and 62 extending freely downwardly from the sprocket into the tank.

A plurality of buckets 63 are rigidly attached to links of the chain 58 with each of the buckets on the upwardly moving reach 60 of the chain opening upwardly while a bottom wall 64 of each bucket slopes'downwardly as the bucket moves along the downwardly moving chain reach 62.

It will also be noted from FIGS. 5, 6 and 8 of the drawings that the side walls 66 of the buckets are provided with drainage openings 68 and 70. Openings 68 are somewhat larger in cross sectional area than the openings 70 and the buckets containing the larger openings will be substantially completely drained of liquid as they move above the liquid level in the tank 24, while those buckets containing the smaller drainage openings 70 will carry some liquid upwardly to the washer 16 for use thereby.

Liquid is Supplied to the tank 24 by means of the conduit 72 adjacent the lower end thereof, thereby resulting in a liquid flow through the tank 24 and the chute 14 into the pulper 10, as shown by the dotted arrows in FIG. 1 of the drawings. As the liquid flows from the tank into the pulper relatively infrangible materials pass, as indicated by the solid arrows in FIG. 1 of the drawings, downwardly through the chute 14 into the bottom of the tank 24.

In this regard it will be noted that the chute 24 con sists of spaced, parallel side walls 74 and opposed top and bottom walls 76 and 78 which diverge away from each other toward the tank 24. As a result, ifa long object, such as a length of pipe, passes from the pulper into the chute 14 it can clear the chute 14 as its leading end is engaged by an upwardly moving bucket and not become jammed in the system.

It will also be noted, particularly from FIGS. 7 and 8 of the drawings, that the vertically extending edges of the side wall 74 are provided with strip members 80 of nylon or the like bolted to the side walls by means of bolts 82. The strips 80 are in a poisition to be engaged by the buckets 63 as they move upwardly through the tank 24 on the upwardly moving chain reach 60.

For purposes of cleaning and maintenance the tank 24 may be provided with access doors 84 and 86. Additionally, an overflow port 88 may extend through the tank adjacent its upper end for level control purposes.

With the above construction it will be seen that rela tively infrangible materials deposited in the pulper 10 may eventually find their way to chute 14 and drop through the chute into the tank 24, where they will settle near the bottom thereof. The buckets 63 will tend to dig into solids so deposited in the tank, scooping a portion of them and conveying them upwardly to the top of the tank.

In this regard it will be noted that the sprocket 30 serves as the sole support for the chain 58, thereby providing unrestrained chain reaches. However, although the two chain reaches 60 and 62 are'substantially unrestrained against movement in a horizontal plane, the weight of the chain and buckets assembly is sufficient to cause the buckets to dig into the material which has accumulated in the tank 24 and carry it towards the top of the tank.

However, if for some reason the buckets become jammed on some object received in the tank 24, the sprocket will simply slip with respect to the chain, thereby preventing damage to the system. When this occurs, it will be necessary, usually, to momentarily stop the sprocket 30 and then restart it to free the buckets.

As the buckets travel about thesprocket 30 from the upwardly moving reach 60 to downwardly moving reach 62 their contents are emptied and deflected by means of the downwardly and outwardly sloping bottom surface 64 of the buckets immediately therebene'ath into the washer or similar draining conveyor 15 for further treatment.

As noted above, the conveyor is suspended from overhead support 16 so that it can swing freely away from the junk remover. Thus, if an abnormally large object is carried through the junker to the conveyor, the possibility of jamming either the junker remover, the washer-conveyor or both, is materially reduced.

In addition to relatively infrangible materials which pass through the chute 14 into the junker, light floating materials, such as plastic, may also find their way into the tank 24, where they will-tend to float upwardly toward the surface of the liquid in the tank. The buckets 63, particularly those having the. smaller openings in their side walls, will tend to entrap these materials and convey them downwardly in the tank to a point adjacent the chute 14, from whence they will tend to be washed back into the pulper 10 by the flow of liquid in dicated by the dotted arrows in FIG. 1 of the drawings.

While a tank of substantially rectangular configuration which more closely conformed to the overall shape of the bucket-chain combination would provide a more compact configuration, it will be seen that the circular cross sectional shape of the tank gives more volume to prevent the build up of solids back up through the chute into the pulper, provides room for the buckets to work against the material accumulated in the tank without jamming and facilitates access to the interior of the tank for maintenance, repair, cleaning, etc.

From the above it will be seen that the present invention provides apparatus particularly adapted for use in a solid waste disposal system.

While the form of apparatus herein described constitutes a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise form of apparatus, and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus of the type described comprising:

a. an upstanding cylindrical tank of substantially circular cross section,

b. a sprocket rotatably mounted adjacent an upper end of said tank,

c. an endless chain trained about and solely supported by said sprocket,

(1. said chain depending freely into said tank and defining a pair of opposed, unrestrained, chain reaches,

e. a plurality of buckets attached to said chain,

f. each of said buckets having a top portion opening upwardly on one of said chain reaches, a bottom wall sloping downwardly and outwardly on the other of said chain reaches and opposed side walls,

g. means defining drainage openings through said sidewalls,

h. said drainage openings in some of said bucket side walls being larger than said drainage openings in other of said bucket side walls,

i. a chute mounted on said tankin communication therewith adjacent a lower end thereof,

j. said chute having opposed top and bottom walls diverging from each other toward said tank and spaced parallel side walls extending in spaced parallel relationship to said one of said chain reaches, and

k. a pair of nylon strip members mounted on vertically extending edges of said chute side walls for engagement by said buckets on said one of said chain reaches. 

1. Apparatus of the type described comprising: a. an upstanding cylindrical tank of substantially circular cross section, b. a sprocket rotatably mounted adjacent an upper end of said tank, c. an endless chain trained about and solely supported by said sprocket, d. said chain depending freely into said tank and defining a pair of opposed, unrestrained, chain reaches, e. a plurality of buckets attached to said chain, f. each of said buckets having a top portion opening upwardly on one of said chain reaches, a bottom wall sloping downwardly and outwardly on the other of said chain reaches and opposed side walls, g. means defining drainage openings through said sidewalls, h. said drainage openings in some of said bucket side walls being larger than said drainage openings in otHer of said bucket side walls, i. a chute mounted on said tank in communication therewith adjacent a lower end thereof, j. said chute having opposed top and bottom walls diverging from each other toward said tank and spaced parallel side walls extending in spaced parallel relationship to said one of said chain reaches, and k. a pair of nylon strip members mounted on vertically extending edges of said chute side walls for engagement by said buckets on said one of said chain reaches. 